Growing and Changing

Eve is a joy.  She is growing up so fast and I want to be sure to treasure every milestone and memory with her.  She knows just what to say to make me laugh.  Eve has become very artsy!  She is very good at drawing flowers, hearts, and animals.  She loves to draw pictures of our family and write everyone's name on top of their face.  She can now spell Eve, Love, Mom, Dad, and Ellie without asking for help. One day this week, I was having a pretty bad allergy attack.  I couldn't stop sneezing, my eyes were watering, and my nose running.  It was awful.  Unprompted, Eve brought me a wad of paper towels and dabbed off my eyes.  She said, "let me help you, mama!"  Right after that, she brought me a cup of water and said, "this'll do ya some good.  you'll be as good as new!"  Immediately, she got started on an art project.  She told me she was working on something for her very best friend, but she couldn't tell me who that was.  She needed a card and an envelope.  In a matter of ten minutes, she walked up to me with the most beautiful smile on her face, I could tell she was proud of what she had worked on.  She held it out towards me and said, "I made this for you ... it should cheer you right up!"

She came home from school a few weeks ago and announced to us that she had a new boy in her class and she "did not like him because he was not very nice."  She went on to say that this boy uses bad words and does not obey the teacher.  Eric and I have been trying to help her understand that not everyone is nice, but that she should do her best to be kind even when someone doesn't return the favor.  Yesterday, Eve came home to tell me, "I talked to ____ today."  "You did?"  I asked.  "Yes ma'am.  I was walking behind him in line outside and I said, '____, I like your shirt and your shorts.'"  I was so proud of her for taking that step and I said, "That's awesome, Eve.  What did he say back to you?"  She was so blunt and straight to the point.  "Zero.  Nothing."  I was so disappointed.  At least she tried.  Eric and I celebrated that with her, and then she said, "Maybe he was just too shy to talk back to me."  Such a sweet innocence.

Here is a picture from Katie Mae's birthday party.  Eve and her friends (Amara, Katie Mae, Lydia, Violet, and Allie).